BEIRUT — U.S. backed forces in Syria claimed full control of the
Islamic State’s onetime capital of Raqqa on Tuesday, heralding an end to
the militants’ presence in their most symbolically important stronghold
and bringing closer the likelihood of their complete territorial
demise.

Talo Silo, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, said
that military operations had halted and that members of the joint
Kurdish-Arab force were clearing the city of explosive devices and
hunting for sleeping cells.

It was still unclear whether some Islamic State pockets remained, but
the SDF portrayed the battle for Raqqa as effectively over.

Besieged and severely weakened, dozens of militants had launched a
final stand from inside Raqqa’s main hospital and stadium. But hundreds
of others surrendered during the final days of the battle after local
officials brokered a controversial deal which could see many escape
prosecution.

The offensive to recapture the city began in June, with the SDF
advancing on foot as U.S.-led coalition airstrikes pummeled the
militants down below. Much of the city now lies in ruins, its residents
scattered throughout displacement camps across the country.

By the time the battle was over, Raqqa had lost all strategic
significance to the group that had once used the city to showcase its
prowess and its brutality. The fall of Mosul in July and the loss of
large areas of territory in eastern Syria to Syrian government forces
leave the militants in control of just a few pockets of territory
spanning the Iraqi Syrian border.

But the capture of the city by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic
Forces, backed by U.S. airstrikes and U.S. advisers on the ground,
nonetheless marks a milestone in the U.S. led effort to defeat the
militants.

Raqqa was the first provincial capital to fully fall from government
control when it was captured by a rebel army containing moderate and
hard-line groups, including the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, in
March 2013.

It established a civilian government but divided into factions two
months later, with one renaming itself the Islamic State of Iraq and
al-Sham, or ISIS. After the city’s Islamist militants swore loyalty to
the group, it became their de facto capital, and by January of 2014, the
extremists were firmly in control.

If the Iraqi city of Mosul gained notoriety as pulpit from which the
Islamic State declared its religiously-inspired caliphate, Raqqa became
the stage from which it showcased its form of rule. Residents were
corralled to watch executions and other acts of ritual humiliation in
its central square.

Raqqa’s southern mountains provided the backdrop to perhaps the
group’s most famous execution of all — that of American journalist James
Foley, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and forced to castigate President
Obama’s foreign policy before he was beheaded by a British militant,
Mohammed al-Emwazi.

Known first to the world as “Jihadi John,” the Kuwaiti-born fighter
would go on to kill several more Western hostages before he died in a
U.S. drone strike on the city’s central square.

Three years after Raqqa’s capture, the Islamic State’s fortunes have
changed drastically. Its once sweeping caliphate has been reduced to
parts of the Syrian province of Deir el-Zour, as well as Anbar in Iraq
and small, scattered pockets elsewhere. Returning to its roots, it has
become a guerrilla force with few hopes of reversing its decline in the
near future.

Yet analysts and diplomats say they fear it will come back in a
different guise. The fight to dislodge the Islamic State has also
intensified the very problems that led to its rise in the first place.

In both Iraq and Syria, Sunni Muslims have been on the losing end of
the civil wars that engulfed the countries — fueling support for these
extremist groups.

In Syria especially, the forces are driving out the Islamic State
have often had few ties to the local population, leaving the way open
yet another cycle of disputes over land, resources and power.

Success or failure will hinge on how Raqqa’s new rulers now govern. A
U.S.-back civilian council is waiting in the wings, already furnished
with plans to repair shattered infrastructure.

Restoration of security will be among its greatest challenges as
other newly recaptured areas have suffered devastating Islamic State
counterattacks, killing scores.

louisa.loveluck@washpost.com

liz.sly@washpost.com

Zakaria Zakaria and Erin Cunningham in Istanbul as well as Heba Habib in Stockholm contributed to this report.

Copyright Disclaimer

Music /Video selections:

RonDoids does not own the copyright to certain media posted within.

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

We Use Cookies

This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services, to personalize ads and to analyze traffic. Information about your use of this site is shared with Google. By using this site, you agree to its use of cookies.Learn MoreGot it